Police: Is it unconstitutional for a police officer to run a persons plate...?

Question

...in the middle of a speed check before establishing any probable cause? This happened to me and I was not speeding and did not get a ticket for speeding. I got a ticket for no seat belt buckled. The officer claimed he could see my belt was not buckled. It was nearly dark on a dark street. I believe he realized he had violated my right and lied about the belt to cover his mistake. Am I correst. Also, does a salvage title mean your registrationis suspended? There was no DOT record of such a suspension. My car was barely damaged asnd ran fine. One turn signal lens was cracked but I had patched it.

Answer 1

A salvage title means that the vehicle was surrendered to a salvage yard, to be sold "for parts only", and the vehicle is not street-legal.

If you were operating the vehicle with a salvage title, how did you get it from the salvage yard?

If the officer noted ANY violation on your vehicle, or had any suspicion of something being questionable, he had the right to run a registration check on your plates. After that, he could have stopped you for the title violation.

Many times, as I was behind another vehicle, I could see the buckle of the seatbelt hanging next to the driver's left shoulder, even in my headlights.

Again, no he did not violate your rights. He was doing his job!!

Answer 2

You're on a public roadway and the officer has the right to check  your vehicle registration ANYTIME you operate your vehicle.

What right of yours do you think the officer violated???

What are you accusing him of lying about???

You don't make sense in  your question.

Answer 3

Probable Cause was established by the speed check.

Your question about a Salvage title is just that the car (vehicle) you own was a salvage, meaning it came from a wrecking yard and had been salvaged and put back to be used on the street.

A seat belt can be seen in the dark? Look at the angle the belt come from your shoulder to the side rest of the car. If you see no belt along this line, the person more then likely is not belted properly?

A cracked turn signal lense is also know as white to the rear (not red) as a lense should properly be?

Answer 4

The patriot act took your constitutional rights away.

Answer 5

What are you hiding? Do me a favor and send me your license plate number.

Answer 6

The supreme court has held that police may conduct random registration (license plate) checks of any vehicle, in any place, at any time.  They may then act on any information they receive, i.e., warrants, expired registration, expired operators license, etc.

Answer 7

Vote for McCain if you love that kind of stuff he will choose more right wingers for Supreme Court that support that c**p

Answer 8

GREAT QUESTION. But i really dont think there will ever be a straight answer to that question.

I know that the police have the right to look up your liscense plate if they feel you are suspicous (IE: suspected DUI, suspected stolen vehicle, vehicle is an un-safe condition).

I would ask a lawyer about this type of thing.

I would also get the officers badge number, and look up the officers arrest and ticket record. You can tell wether or not he has given similar tickets to people.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

Answer 9

No. The US Supreme Court has ruled the plate is in plain view, and the vehicle is operated on a public road, so there is no expectation of privacy.

A salvage title has nothing to do with suspended registration, it just means the car was in an accident and the insurance company totaled the car. Some people buy these cars back from the insurance company and fix them up.

As far as the seat belt, it is fairly easy to see the shiny latch plate over your shoulder on most cars.

Answer 10

It is NOT unconstitutional for law enforcement to run your vehicle license plate.